Now I also have the fabulous team at Harlequin to thank for bringing Something in the Wine to life. I am so grateful to Jo who wanted to bring the story to my readership, to Annabel for her editing skills and for helping me to see how much times had changed since the original version and to proofer Kate James for casting an eagle eye over everything. The cover designers have once again excelled. I always think they can’t do better than the last cover they created and yet each new cover is unique. Thanks Michelle Zaiter, I love this one. And to Darren Kelly and the sales team and Adam van Rooijen and the marketing/publicity team and the rest of the gang who do so much for my books, my thanks for your dedication.

Just for you, dear readers, I take my research very seriously and, in the case of this book, I sampled some new and different varieties of wine that I’d like to share with you in thanks for your support. In the course of updating this story I came across two wine varieties, assyrtiko and albariño, which were new to me and to Australia as it turns out. My story is set in Western Australia but I managed to slip in a nod to the South Australian wine industry and in particular, Jim Barry Wines in the Clare Valley and Artwine in the Adelaide Hills from where I got the inspiration. Assyrtiko is a Greek wine variety that is now grown and bottled in Clare Valley thanks to Jim Barry Wines. Albariño is a wine variety from Spain and has been successfully grown and produced in the Adelaide Hills thanks to Judy and Glenn Kelly from Artwine. If you like white wine I can recommend both of these varieties.

I am also very grateful to Smokey, my friend in the Force, who was able to help me with police procedure. However, you all know I never let the truth get in the way of a good story so any variations are my own and that includes the finer details of wine making.

When I wrote a book set in Coonawarra wine country, called Between the Vines and published in 2015, I acknowledged my son Jared and said if you ever planned to write a book set in a winery it’s handy if you have a son who’s a winemaker. Jared and I got to work closely on that book and now we’ve had the chance to do it again with Something in the Wine. How lucky am I?

He not only helped me with the wine research but he also has an eagle eye when it comes to proofreading. Thank you, Jared, for the many emails and phone calls we had editing this book and for your support of your mum. I appreciate it more than words can say.